Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A canter over to Cockfosters - Trent Park Equestrian Centre
I took Isabelle over to Oakwood this morning to the Trent Park Equestrian Centre for her Easter holiday horse-riding treat. We discovered this last half-term and although bone-achingly cold, she loved her lesson in the rudiments of horsemanship and I think, proud parent that I am, she shows considerable promise.
Seeing a tiny child approach a Thelwellian pony that still towers over them with confidence is a sight to behold and the set up at Trent Park seems very good.
I wasn't really a horsey type as a child, one miserable experience with a sullen goth called Franka rather put me off the whole riding thing and I've grown a little bit afraid of our equine friends ever since. After about my third lesson she took us off into some woods and decided that we ought to learn to ride bareback. Having stripped my miserable steed of its saddle she heaved me up onto its back and then walloped its rump, sending said beast careering off into the undergrowth. I was hanging onto my pony's mane for dear life whilst she screamed out "you look like a sack of potatoes, sit up straight" No fear, not on your life. Olympic dreams shattered.
No such cavalier techniques at Trent Park though, Isabelle is tutored gently, if rather firmly.
Fortified by a breakfast of brioche and gummy bears (Olympians take note) we take the piccadilly line from Finsbury Park up to Oakwood and in less than 20 minutes, arrive in the Hertfordshire countryside.
Isabelle's pony for the lesson is Billy and she takes his rein and sets off with her guide to the indoor training centre. There are about seven other children ranging in height and skill taking the lesson and they trot round in circles as Louise the Instructor bellows out commands from the centre. She grows a deepening shade of puce with each exhortation but the children seem to take it all in their stride.
For a little girl who resolutely refuses to dress herself and still enjoys her evening milk in a baby bottle, her grip of the complex instructions being issued to her is astonishing. "Take the reins in your left hand, trot up to the X, ride in an S formation and hand the reins back to your right". I'd be flustered and panicking at this point, trying to marry that with the complicated procedure of rise and trot but my little horsewoman just gets on with it, giant riding hat occasionally slipping over her eyes. To be honest I didn't think she knew her left from her right or the difference between an S or an X shape but I seem to have been underestimating her talents.
An hours lesson comes to £25, certainly not a cheap hobby or one that we can indulge in more than once every couple of months but I'm told by another mother watching from the stands that once they reach a level of reasonable proficiency, there are quite a few bargains to be had on the riding front. There are plenty of horse owners in the Oakwood area who let children ride their ponies for a much cheaper rate once they know what they're doing.
I'd certainly recommend the centre for beginners though.
Tags for Forum Posts: alexandra park, horse-riding, parks, riding, trent park
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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I would love to have a riding school in Alexandra Park ( I have used Trent Park and enjoyed it very much ) but I don't see how you can expect the Council, or the Trustees, to set aside or designate an area specifically for a riding school for which there is as yet no concrete business interest. What would happen if the Council agreed to reserve this space for a potential riding school and some other interest came along with a viable proposal for some other use ? Would they not have to say " Sorry but we cannot agree to your attractive proposal as we have promised that this area will be reserved for a riding school. " I think they would feel that their hands were tied.
I suppose you could always suggest to Trent Park that they open a spin-off centre and see what they think.
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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Let's not bicker, Alan,
You can see there are very strong feelings and a lot of enthusiasm about this idea so why don't you buck the trend and talk some of your colleagues into taking a walk out to the park with me, so I can show you all what needs to be done?
We can probably also get Sister Mary Joy along to explain why this is a good idea -- I'm sure those Council members worried about being turned to dust by her crucifix will be able to find some excuse for not attending.
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Hackney on
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Isn't riding horses cruel. In order to be ridden they have to be broken, otherwise they won't wear a saddle. Is this not a step down a slippery slope to performing bears in circuses? And horse riding is immensely dangerous - do the stats not show more injuries per 1000 participants than Rugby Football and ski-ing? And what has it got to do with the council - AP is run by a trust, with a committee and manager and debts, and a failed ski slope. Whoever it is now scared witless of actually doing anything for fear of something happening. So a petition to the council would just be a complete waste of time - couldn't the lovely horse torturers at Trent Park and Lee Valley give you some idea of the costs at least so that it seems vaguely viable when you propose to ehoever would be the right people??
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The Trust -- very unfortunately -- is run by the same people who run the council, that is why there have been so many problems. It should be run independently but at present it is not and that is what we have to work with.
As for the rest of what you have to say, it is quite obvious you know very little about horses or riding.
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Permalink Reply by Louise Nazeraj on
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@Mac Heath I'm afraid some of what you say is too ridiculous for me to get upset about but other bits are interesting. I wouldn't know who to approach about this proposal but I'm assuming the Council must be involved at some point, otherwise Alan Stanton would have said so. Didn't Lydia make a proposal to the Council initially? If they have nothing to do with the leasing of the land, wouldn't they have said so?
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Managed by the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, the 196 acres (80 hectares) of parkland surrounding the Palace are open all year round.
For extreme-sports enthusiasts jaded by volcanoes and clifftops, all that is needed to restore the adrenaline flow is to put on a pair of trunks because, at first glance, swimming is far and away the most dangerous sporting activity for adults in the UK. A study by David Ball of Middlesex University showed that between 1988 and 1992, 315 out of 708 sporting fatalities in the UK (or 44%) were from drowning.
Second place was taken by motor sports, with 65 deaths, closely followed by horse riding, with 62. Equal fourth were mountain climbing and air sports, including hang-gliding, parachuting and flying light aircraft, with 51 deaths. In sixth — just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water — were non-drowning accidents from all water sports, which accounted for 49 fatalities
3. HORSE RIDING: A recent survey on the number of fatalities per 100,000 participants in the US put riding a horse - including eventing, racing and show jumping - at the top of the list with a whopping 128. And that's without taking into account all the horses that perished too. Compare this number to the seemingly much more dangerous sport of boxing - which has just 1.3 deaths per 100,000 - and it puts into perspective quite how dangerous getting your leg over a horse can be.
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Fine, so based on this hysterical report we should all campaign to the council and get Park Road Pools closed down?
There's lies, damn lies and statistics.
Surely even the council wouldn't be able to turn down a proposal on the basis that it was dangerous? I can imagine a host of other reasons but danger no.
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All this stuff about danger is a red herring and I would advise posters to this discussion to ignore arguments of the type put forward by MacHeath. Yes, riding has its dangers, just like life has its dangers. You make your choices and I for one would prefer to be out in the fresh air facing the dangers of riding with the song of the wind in my ears, the eagerness and power of the horse pulling through the reins into my hands, knowing the bright glory of a true physical connection with the natural world and one of God's most beautiful creatures, over staying safe in my living room, turning into a blob on the sofa and watching life secondhand through my TV screen.
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Permalink Reply by Anette on
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Lydia, I'm backing you 100% - let me know if I can help. I used to go to Trent Park to get my riding fix, not having my own horse anymore. As for MacHeath.. good grief! Nuff said.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Here's a BBC article on horse riding fatalities. It says:
A complete statistical overview is not possible but a figure of 10 deaths a year has been cited
Here's another study, with good references. This puts the rate of deaths from horse riding below those from football, cycling and running.
By the way, from a quick bit of Googling, on 'fatalities horse riding survey 2010', all roads lead to an article by Sportingo. This study gave Lawn Bowling as the number 1 most dangerous sport. Kinda makes you doubtful, just a bit......dunnit? (But to be fair to Sportingo, it does say that it's piece is "A sometimes tongue-in-cheek look at the risks sportsmen and women take to fulfil their lust for competitiveness").If I've got the wrong 'survey', could you give us links to the correct one please. (And for me it would need to be supported by some well-referenced data.)
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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I'd like to see those numbers analysed by age. Cycling is quoted as dangerous, motorcycling even more so. But that's skewed by the disproportionate number of young, male, riders, with their inbuilt belief in their own invulnerability. Do horserider numbers have a majority of youngsters?
[I just had to look up BASE Jumping. Good grief.]
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